Where is everybody?

[tajoe]

Haven't seen anyone posting here for a while. Hope everyone with a running T/A is out driving them.

[JJ 109]

Moved to TAC Facebook apparently

[tajoe]

OMG.

[tajoe]

Are you telling me, if you're not on "facebook", no-one will bother? What a world.

[b_hill_86]

I lurk pretty much daily. Just not doing anything fun worth posting I guess. Pulled my engine back in April, found a few issues, stuck it back in a few weeks ago. Now dealing with clutch chatter issues so trans is gonna come out probably next week. I made a transmission Jack adapter to assist me in getting the trans in and out by myself. I’m not a fabricator nor a welder by any means. In fact, I don’t weld a ton but I swear I got worse somehow lol. This thing turned out pretty ugly but I think it’ll work.

[Wallington]

It's been like this for years, on and off, and on all forums.

[tajoe]

Brian, good luck with your clutch. I'm sure your tranny jack adapter will be fine. Funny how about , ummm  30-40 years ago, a Muncie (or ST-10)wasn't too bad to pull out. Now-a-days, for some reason, they seem to be much heavier.

And Wally, I'm afraid you're right. I see that on most Pontiac forums. I don't even wanna elaborate on it.

[kentucky yeti]

I'm intermittently here day and night lol.  I just don't have a lot of car stuff going on right now, as I am working on sourcing materials and labor to hopefully get our new house built in a couple more months.

[FormTA]

I'm here multiple times a day but not much going on. That is why I posted my boat thread a while back (which I am now in the process of dropping in a crate engine).

Glad to see you here again.  There is really only a small bunch of us that that post anymore. I wish there were build threads going but there are only a couple right now.

[wheels78ta]

Also here 

I check in here every day.  I don't post much but I read every new post to see what's going on.

There is a Y88 restoration thread I started and l continue to work on it 3-4 days a week.

Glad to see you here.

[b_hill_86]

Brian, good luck with your clutch. I'm sure your tranny jack adapter will be fine.

Thanks. Fingers crossed. Last time I pulled it, out was ok. In was a little tougher.

[T/A Addict]

I have always been a regular visitor to the forum. I don't post often but always read and kept up on happenings.
That is difficult to do with the "Show unread posts since last visit" no longer working, thus I haven't really kept up on much here lately unfortunately.

[rkellerjr]

I'm here lurking several times a day but nothing going on so no posting of late.  Getting ready to install my new gauges in a week or so, I'll definitely post up when done.

[b_hill_86]

I have always been a regular visitor to the forum. I don't post often but always read and kept up on happenings.
That is difficult to do with the "Show unread posts since last visit" no longer working, thus I haven't really kept up on much here lately unfortunately.

Best alternative is scrolling to the bottom of the homepage and click on “View most recent posts on the forum”

[5th T/A]

I typically login every day, unless I am traveling. I am retired, so I don’t have an excuse not to. There are plenty of regulars that contribute frequently. In recent history, Wallington posts the most with a lot of good information. I am guessing most members have full time jobs and families, on top of that it’s summer vacation for many. TAC is still my favorite Pontiac site, I don’t do Facebook.

A little more activity would be nice, so if you are doing anything with your car including just thinking about it, post it. Likely someone will enjoy reading about it. As long as it’s not about politics or how screwed up the world is. I come here to escape reality!

[72projectbird]

Unfortunately, I think the last site crash killed TAC. A lot of regular users are gone, but I still see them posting on other forums that are much more active.

I know for me personally, when all the build threads and tech threads disappeared, I kinda lost motivation to post here. I had build threads that were 10 years old and still going that are gone forever, which really kills any desire to keep posting updates to my projects.

Still, I check in from time to time. I like seeing what the few active guys left are doing.

[tajoe]

Well, I guess those are a lot of answers to my question. I was "extremely" worried about the TAC "FACEBOOK" answer, cause not only don't I do facebook, I don't even have a phone. Still sitting here behind my comfy and familiar desk top, on a padded swivel chair. Having a hard time keeping up with modern changes.
 
And I was also worried about how the crash affected here. I can understand some of it, I guess. I know I myself haven't been participating as much, but mostly cause altho I still have my 73, and 84, I just wasn't able to add to their progress, cause there wasn't any. As some above have mentioned, the cost of automotive resto really is exorbitant, not to mention the time needed to accomplish each task. Now that I'm older, and things are slowing down a bit, (including me), I'm determined to start making time for my cars, (and trucks). I think I'll tackle my 84 tribute T/A 1st, because of a few reason, but one is because cosmetically, it needs the least amount of work. Mechanically, is a different story. I've been talking about this transformation for years, and I know most are sick of hearing about it, with nothing to show. Well, that's about to change. I'll start a new new thread here, and see if I can get any interest. But thanx to all the posters, that are still hanging in there. Glad to hear you're still here.

[stros]

Still lurking around as well.  I’ve managed to stay off of Facebook for all of these years and am very happy with that decision. 

Not much new and exciting going on with my T/A at this point other than just driving it.   Still very happy with the LS swap and I passed another CA smog test again.  Finally found a good smog shop that understands how to handle swaps. 

I do have some paint cracking on my rear bumper (dealt with the same issue on the front bumper a few years back) so it looks like I may not be totally done with this project yet…

[b_hill_86]

I have paint cracking on my front bumper. Then again, I did accidentally wack it with the piston of an engine hoist.  . Hard.

[Wallington]

Now that Fbook is out of fashion, with the next video gimmick of self-made attention seekers, where will people go now to post questions and never return to see the answers?

[ryeguy2006a]

Unfortunately, I think the last site crash killed TAC. A lot of regular users are gone, but I still see them posting on other forums that are much more active.

I know for me personally, when all the build threads and tech threads disappeared, I kinda lost motivation to post here. I had build threads that were 10 years old and still going that are gone forever, which really kills any desire to keep posting updates to my projects.

Still, I check in from time to time. I like seeing what the few active guys left are doing.

I hate to say it, but this is pretty much how I feel. Lost two of my build threads that went back a long time, but don't have much interest in rebuilding them. I think that crash came at the worst time because forums are already struggling.

That said, I'm on the hunt for a new project and when I pick up one I'll start a thread.

[roadking77]

I hate to hear 'the crash' as an excuse. It was bad, but when it happened I kept checking back in until the site was back up. And, wasnt it like 2 yrs ago now!  I lost my 77 build thread but as the saying goes, no use crying over spilled milk. As the renowned Steve Miller said, 'keep on keepin' on'. Not much activity on build threads in general as 1. the  'supply chain' has made it hard to get parts, 2. prices are getting prohibitive on anything to be dumping money into a project car that will likely flounder for 4 or 5 yrs before it can be driven 3. the price and availability of finding a decent project is getting high, and 4. shops that take 1-1/2 yrs to build a motor (sorry had to get that one in).

Have said it before and I know others here feel the same way but I dont do fb. I am on a couple of other forums. One has a lot of members but seems like the same 10 people make most of the posts. About like here. Theres a woodworking forum I check in on once in awhile and I think Carter was the president when the last post there was made.

I think each season has its excuse for lack of activity, Summer people are busy working outside, vacations, DRIVING their cars, etc. Me, I check in at least once a day. Mostly to just spill my latest dose of nonsense which I hope entertains at least one guy, LOL.

[b_hill_86]

Now that Fbook is out of fashion, with the next video gimmick of self-made attention seekers, where will people go now to post questions and never return to see the answers?

Ha! Here or FBN. 

[rkellerjr]

Well, I guess those are a lot of answers to my question. I was "extremely" worried about the TAC "FACEBOOK" answer, cause not only don't I do facebook, I don't even have a phone. Still sitting here behind my comfy and familiar desk top, on a padded swivel chair. Having a hard time keeping up with modern changes.
 
And I was also worried about how the crash affected here. I can understand some of it, I guess. I know I myself haven't been participating as much, but mostly cause altho I still have my 73, and 84, I just wasn't able to add to their progress, cause there wasn't any. As some above have mentioned, the cost of automotive resto really is exorbitant, not to mention the time needed to accomplish each task. Now that I'm older, and things are slowing down a bit, (including me), I'm determined to start making time for my cars, (and trucks). I think I'll tackle my 84 tribute T/A 1st, because of a few reason, but one is because cosmetically, it needs the least amount of work. Mechanically, is a different story. I've been talking about this transformation for years, and I know most are sick of hearing about it, with nothing to show. Well, that's about to change. I'll start a new new thread here, and see if I can get any interest. But thanx to all the posters, that are still hanging in there. Glad to hear you're still here.

I dislike Facebook with a passion for car stuff. You can't keep up with threads, they scroll off and you can't find them, etc. A forum is the best interface for what we do.

[72projectbird]

I hate to hear 'the crash' as an excuse. It was bad, but when it happened I kept checking back in until the site was back up. And, wasnt it like 2 yrs ago now!

Well it's my excuse.

The fact that it happened a while ago and we haven't seen a resurgence of threads means a lot of people feel the same way imo.

[NOT A TA]

The crash pretty much killed it.

Some people drifted away slowly after checking to see if the site came back daily, then weekly, for a long time. Meanwhile others have died, sold their birds, etc.

The complete loss of previous content due to a lack of back up upset a lot of us who had put a lot of time into informational, how to, and project threads only to see the threads disappear in the blink of an eye. There was talk about trying to rebuild some of the various threads but most of us realized it would take a tremendous amount of time to try and recreate the threads. In my particular case I'd had threads on sub frames, aerodynamics and other threads that simply couldn't be rebuilt without all the posts others had made in the threads.

Because all the old threads that were full of valuable information are gone, people like me who are on a bunch of other forums no longer send folks to this forum using links to the threads that have disappeared, so fewer referrals that might help enlist new members.

When the forums were on the rise in the mid 2000's there was little online competition for people's time online so lots of us joined forums and were active. The forums peaked 2010-early teens when a lot of us were posting content we thought would remain as a sort of library for those to follow us as time went by. Then the social networks started taking peoples time, and then Youtube really drew folks away from forums. So instead of spending time on forums people are taking pics and posting them on social media or watching the vast array of videos about cars. Then with the forum crash, loss of the library, long wait before the forum was back up and running, and the distractions of all the modern online possibilities the forum has seen a very very slow recovery. 

The diehards are still here (note post counts of those who've posted in this thread) and will keep checking in to see if we can answer questions or see what's going on. However, I doubt the forum activity will ever be what it once was.

[tajoe]

Well, crash, or no crash, at least this is still a forum I can comfortably go to, and see what's new with others, and finally start a thread on my stuff. I don't care if there's only 12 people, or 12 thousand. I only have so much time to spend on the net, because of other priorities. If members here have anything interesting to see, I'm sure others will come and visit...again. And possibly re-join, with fresh material.

We all know this site and this hobby (with these cars) is a dying breed. You can tell by the participation and visual clues when ever we go to the drags, the car shows, or club events. We're all grey hairs, or balding, and getting on into our "twighlight" years. Even government regulations have been fighting us for decades. But if I can get another 10, or even 5 years outta this hobby, I'll be happy. Gives me a reason to exist and get outta bed.  So us "die-hards" will keep posting, and maybe we can get some interest back, even if some material is lost. For most here, the other sites don't have your lost material either. you don't need-ta re-do your entire history, but it would be nice to see s few before and after pics of your older, or even current machines.  I don't think that's too much to ask.

[scarebird]

The world is moving on. 

Forums were the thing until a dozen years ago, then FakeBook took a large chunk of it as phones got more powerful.  Our Honda customers mainly use stuff like Instagram and Snapchat - apps I know nothing about nor care to.

Even TV is now Balkanized.  I have been on internet based TV for 8 years, and every time I turn about another "network" pops up; Apple TV, Hulu, Sling, ESPN, Disney, Amazon - all running content you can only see there and requiring a subscription.

[tajoe]

You're right SB, the world is moving on. But it doesn't mean we have to, as long as we still have forums like this. If we still enjoy it, why do I have-ta move on?

I see the youth in my work totally fixated with their phones, which they treat as if it's part of their body and never leave it out of their sight. I understand the convenience of them for professional reasons, and even some personal use. But know they've become an addiction, to many who refuse to acknowledge it. And it's such an obsession, there's no turning back.

 I never imagined I'ld be at the point to be considered "over the hill", and outta touch", but I guess we all must face reality. It was tough for me to get acclimated to these computers, when they 1st came out, just like it was hard to give up my 8 tracks and albums, when CDs came out. (And I guess now they're outdated). But now computers have been shoved down our throats, and have become mandatory in our society. Even here, as I type this I feel guilty that I'm not outside in the yard, or garage. But I know how to control it, and not let it control me. Like most with their "smart" phones, with so many distractions at their finger tips, it's no wonder very little entertaining is being enjoyed out-side, and in public places. Malls, drags, circle tracks, parks and rec places, are all suffering, because so many just stay in place and consume themselves with these devices. Even when people are out, at said places, they're not even concentrating on their surroundings, but their phones. I'm sure you've all experienced it. Maybe I'm over dramatizing it, but you guys must be able to agree with some of it. So I'll end my rant, (sorry), and promise never to mention it again. I think you get my point. I'm just glad TAC is still here, and hope it'll hang in a while longer. (Thanks Mike.)

[langss]

Sadly, The crashes I think went a long way to slowing things down. For a really long time I couldn't even log on, and most of the requests for help either went unanswered or didn't work. I finally figured it out, but I can't have been the only one affected...That almost was the end for me.   

[Wallington]

This forum still gets more posts than their Fbook alternative, and it is from returning members. 377 posts this month vs 30.

[firebirdparts]

Now that Fbook is out of fashion, with the next video gimmick of self-made attention seekers, where will people go now to post questions and never return to see the answers?

I don't know.  I really enjoy answering questions and helping figure out stuff, and I guess we just went through a golden age of figuring out things, and it's over.  I find facebook pretty discouraging as it doesn't have any permanence.  Nobody is going to ever find a meaningful discussion because it's a single column of chronological posts.  People are obviously demotivated here to restore what we had (seeing it disappear discourage people) but this forum was pretty dead before that. 

[aussieta]

i log in everyday
as i am in australia
all i know is what i break on my car
and researching options, vin numbers etc
so dont post very often

[roadking77]

Well put Tajoe. I am just shy of 60 and if I wasnt self employed and needed my phone to put food on the table I probably wouldnt even have one. Same with the computer. I go on a couple of car forums, use my big desktop unit for work stuff and thats about it. I dont do you tube, netflix or any other of that type of stuff. I will search some stuff out when I need some info. My 10 yr grandson lives with us and its a constant battle over his cell phone. Wife is outside right now riding bikes with him to keep him busy. He knows more about computers and phones than I probably ever will. Its a double edge sword. I think its great that he embraces tech. and knows what he does, but I dont like that is all he thinks about 24/7.

I see 'young' guys in the const. field that spend almost as much time looking on their phone as doing work. I def. have seen cut back in production because of that.

[hakitup]

I check in everyday to see what’s up, my 74 needs a clutch just have to find time to work on it. I’ve been consumed with a 67 bronco build and a vintage Baja race truck build that I plan to race next year.

[roadking77]

That bronco is a gem in the rough.

[79GoldnTan]

Yea, I check in everyday. Self employed and very busy, booked till end of next year, miss a lot of post that were lost. Still think this is the best place for firebird info. Hakitup, that is a sweet Bronco,  been on the lookout for one, way back I had a 71, drove across the country twice, working,  drinking my way along. Met the wife of 40 years and it sat till there wasn't much left.

[Wallington]

Many check in regularly, but they don't post anything.

[Jack]

Time or as they say free time is my issue, I just don't have any. Work and life gets in the way and I'm only logging in once every few weeks.
It's 6am and I'm running late already because I logged on and read few posts

[Updated71]

I check in usually once a day as well. I still plug along on my only Firebird which is more of a protouring build. I don't post any updates on the car as I feel this is more of a stock style forum. I definitely appreciate the knowledge and insight when I need it regarding something.

I posted much more when I was building my TATA.